Math: Chapter 2: Classroom Diversity

I think that the first few pages of Chapter 2 gave a nice brief overview of how classrooms have started to change over time into more inclusive classrooms. All of the classes in the Masters in Special Education program I have been in so far has touched on the subject of laws and new regulations that have been passed regarding the rights of students with special needs and how even regular education teachers need to learn how to teach these students. I think that this chapter gave a nice overview then moved on to discussing suggestions for teachers in the area of diversity.
I really enjoyed reading the information on learning style preferences. This is probably the basis of all lesson plans I would imagine. Even though there have been so many changes to curriculum and lesson plans from when I was in school, I remember discussing and talking about learning style preferences. I believe without a doubt that all of us have different learning styles. Personally I learn visually and need to see what I'm learning for it to be understood, for this reason, PowerPoint's were always my best friend. I believe that as teachers we need to adapt our lessons in order to include many different learning styles into one lesson. I think that sometimes this could be time consuming and confusing, because of having to remember and teach lessons the way that each student in the class needs to be taught, but it can be so beneficial in the long run. If you don't do this the first time around you may spend several lessons reteaching the original lesson for students that don't understand it the first time it is taught a certain way, that right there would be more time consuming than accommodating the students in the first place, in my opinion.
The next section I enjoyed reading as well. This section was on Low Cognitive Abilities. I work with special needs children right now in the classrooms, but as their TSS and not their teacher, but I still see some of the same points made in the book. My clients often times get overwhelmed with too much information in a lesson and will have a meltdown, because it is hard for them to only focus on one out of many unless it is broken down. This was a suggestion made by the book and I fully agree without a doubt in my mind. I also liked the suggestion to use more developmental activities and also to use aids. What an excellent idea! I know that it is easier for me when learning new concepts to be able to link it to concepts already learned, this is true for my future students as well. Allowing work to be completed with partners as well is another great point. I deal with a lot of behavioral problems in my line of work and one thing that has been repeated and repeated to me is how important it is for my non-typical clients to be around typical kids for modeling and help with their behaviors. If it is true for behaviors then I am sure it is true in academics as well.
All in all I enjoyed the chapter mostly because I LOVE MATH and cannot wait to teach it one day!